1 John 4:1-6 [New Century Version]
1 My dear friends, many false prophets have gone out into the world. So do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God. 2 This is how you can know God’s Spirit: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human is from God. 3 And every spirit who refuses to say this about Jesus is not from God. It is the spirit of the enemy of Christ, which you have heard is coming, and now he is already in the world.
4 My dear children, you belong to God and have defeated them; because God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world. 5 And they belong to the world, so what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. But those who are not from God do not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit that is true and the spirit that is false.
Memory Verse: 1 John 4:2-3
2 This is how you can know God’s Spirit: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human is from God. 3 And every spirit who refuses to say this about Jesus is not from God. It is the spirit of the enemy of Christ, which you have heard is coming, and now he is already in the world.
Avoid the traps of false prophets by:
Testing the spirits
1 John 4:1-6 [New Century Version]
1My dear friends, many false prophets have gone out into the world.
So do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God.
Hebrews 4:12, 13 [New Century Version]
12 God’s word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. 13 Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is clear and lies open before him, and to him we must explain the way we have lived.
1 Corinthians 6:1-3 [NCV]
1When you have something against another Christian, how can you bring yourself to go before judges who are not right with God? Why do you not let God’s people decide who is right? 2 Surely you know that God’s people will judge the world. So if you are to judge the world, are you not able to judge small cases as well? 3 You know that in the future we will judge angels, so surely we can judge the ordinary things of this life.
Avoid the traps of false prophets by:
Testing the spirits
Knowing how to identify a false teacher
1 John 4:2 [New century Version]
2 This is how you can know God’s Spirit:
Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human is from God.
Romans 10:9-11 [NCV]
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. 10 We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.”
1 John 4:3
3 And every spirit who refuses to say this about Jesus is not from God.
It is the spirit of the enemy of Christ,
which you have heard is coming, and
now he is already in the world.
Galatians 1:6-9 [NLT]
6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. 7You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
8Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
Avoid the traps of false prophets by:
Testing the spirits
Knowing how to identify a false teacher
Being confident in the victory we have in CHRIST
1 John 4:4-5 [New Living Translation]
4 My dear children, you belong to God and have defeated them; because God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world.
5 And they belong to the world, so what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them.
Ephesians 2:1-3
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
1 John 4:6 [NLT]
6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. But those who are not from God do not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit that is true and the spirit that is false.
John 10:27-30 [NLT]
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
Avoid the traps of false prophets by:
Testing the spirits
Knowing how to identify a false teacher
Being confident in the victory we have in CHRIST